A quartets of teams kicked off the first day of Legends Stage action on Saturday by each winning a pair of matches at PGL Major Antwerp 2022 in Belgium.
Natus Vincere, Team Spirit, the Copenhagen Flames and Ninjas in Pyjamas all began Legends play 2-0 as the Counter-Strike: Global Offensive tournament resumed two days after the Challengers Stage ended.
With all 16 teams facing off in Round 1, NiP proved most dominant in a 16-4 win over Team Vitality on Mirage. Spirit had a tougher time in besting FURIA Esports 16-12 on Nuke, with Copenhagen nipping Bad News Eagles 16-14 on Ancient and NaVi scoring an overtime 19-17 victory over G2 Esports on Mirage.
Other Round 1 winners included Heroic (16-11 over Team Liquid on Vertigo), Cloud9 (16-12 over Outsiders on Mirage), ENCE (16-8 over FaZe Clan on Mirage) and BIG (16-11 over Imperial Esports on Nuke).
After advancing to Round 2 High Matches NiP had the toughest time, winning a tightly contested 16-14 decision over Cloud9 on Inferno. Spirit defeated Heroic 16-12 on Nuke, with both the Flames (over ENCE) and NaVi scoring 16-8 victories on Ancient.
In Round 2 Low Matches, G2 beat Imperial 16-12 on Mirage, FURIA took down Liquid 16-9 on Ancient, Outsiders defeated Vitality 16-8 on Mirage and FaZe won 16-4 over Bad News on Ancient.
The major’s opening Challengers Stage that concluded Thursday featured 16 teams competing for eight berths into the Legends Stage. Utilizing the Swiss System format, the eight teams that won in Round 1 proceeded to the Round 2 “High” matches and the eight that lost moved to the Round 2 “Low” matches. All matches are best-of-one except elimination and advancement matches, which are best-of-three.
The 16-team Legends Stage that opened Saturday runs through Tuesday in the same format to determine which eight teams will clinch spots in the May 19-22 Champions Stage.
Round 3 action continues Sunday in the Legends Stage:
Copenhagen Flames vs. Team Spirit (High)
Natus Vincere vs. Ninjas in Pyjamas (High)
Heroic vs. G2 Esports (Mid)
ENCE vs. Outsiders (Mid)
Cloud9 vs. FaZe Clan (Mid)
BIG vs. FURIA Esports (Mid)
Team Vitality vs. Team Liquid (Low)
Bad News Eagles vs. Imperial Esports (Low)
–Field Level Media